LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 19, 2001- 3
HIGHER ED
Louisiana U. uPs
athlete grad rate
The Louisiana Tigers were one of
28 football teams that earned The
American Football Coaches Associa-
tion Academic Achievement Award
for having a graduation rate higher
than 70 percent.
The number of players on the
team who stay until graduation has
increased significantly since it was
last tallied in 1994, when the grad-
uation rate was at 42 percent.
Second-year head football coach
Nick Saban, said the improvement
was necessary for the program and
has helped the school's recruitment
statistics.
"I think that it is definitely detri-
mental to a program not to have a
good graduation rate, because that's a
statistic that people will use against
you in recruiting - as if you're not
committed to having a good academic
support group to help your players
graduate," he said.
In order to ensure the graduation
rate remains high, Saban and the
Tiger Athletic Association are
funding a $10 million renovation to
the Academic Center for Athletes.
The new center will include two
computer labs with more than 80
work stations, a 1,000 seat auditori-
um, 30 tutorial rooms and five
classrooms.
Saban came to Louisiana after leav-
ing Michigan State University, where
he also helped fund an academic facil-
ity for student athletes.
Washington, D.C.
campus receives
terrorist threats
Bomb threats and false alarms at
George Washington University have
kept students fearing for their safety
and out of classes throughout the last
week.
Students evacuated a class last
Thursday afternoon after a man wear-
ing a large black backpack entered and
walked to the front of the classroom
while the professor lectured.
The man asked the professor sev-
eral questions, and the 70-person
class became silent. Two students,
worried that the bag might contain a
bomb, grabbed their belongings and
left quickly, and the rest of the class
followed. Some students called the
university's police department as the
professor talked with the man.
The man was taken into custody
and later released after telling officers
he only wanted to add the class to his
schedule.
In addition, George Washington
students were forced to evacuate
three other buildings on Tuesday,
two because of a bomb threat and
the other after two "suspicious"
packages arrived at a campus build-
ing.
UNC students have
to pay higher bills
Some students at the University of
North Carolina who thought they had
paid their tuition will be receiving a
second bill.
This second bill is a result of a
legislature-mandated 5 percent
tuition increase for students across
the state to aid in offsetting the
state's financial shortfall this year.
Administrators at the university
sent the first stack of bills out to
students at the standard time and
had expected to send out a second
bill when agreement was finally
reached in the legislature.
The total tuition increases are the
result of second installment of the
campus-initiated increase, which
came to about an additional $115
for in-state and about $200 for out-
of-state students; a 4 percent Board
of Governors approved increase
and the newly approved 5 percent
legislative increase applied across
the state.
In-state undergraduate students will
feel the lightest hit to their wallets, as
their bills will only total $28, with in-
state graduate students bearing only a
$29 hit. Out-of-state undergraduate
students will be forced to pay an addi-
tional $359 and out-of-state graduate
students will be charged $433 on their
second tuition bill.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Maria Sprow.
Commuters trade high rent for long drive
By Shabina S. Khatri
Daily Staff Reporter
While most University students
enjoy the luxury of simply rolling out
of bed 10 minutes before class
begins, there are many among us
whose morning routine involves a lit-
tle more effort and a lot more time.
One example is LSA junior
Damian Manire, whose daily com-
mute consists of the hour-plus drive
from Grosse Pointe Farms to Cen-
tral Campus.
"For my 9 a.m. class, I have to
get up at a quarter to seven and be
out the door by 7:30," Manire said.
A former resident of East Quad,
Manire, who said he prefers the
quiet life, is still searching for off-
campus housing. "It takes a while
to find off-campus housing, and
when you do, it's generally over-
priced and falling apart."
Another reason students com-
mute from their homes is to stay
close to their families.
"Your roommate is your family, and
if you love your family, then I'd defi-
nitely call that a plus," Manire said.
LSA senior Fatina Abdrabboh, a
Dearborn resident who makes the 35-
minute commute to Ann Arbor every
Tuesday and Thursday, agreed.
"Being a student on campus is
stressful enough. It's nice to go to
your car, get away and come home
... and when you're home the dis-
cussion is not constantly (focused
upon) the University. Then again, I
often feel out of the loop."
Other students choose to live off-
campus for the sake of conve-
nience. LSA sophomore Halim
Naeem cites "saving money on
rent" as one of the top reasons he
commutes to his classes from his
home in northwestern Ann Arbor.
But Abdrabboh, who has been
commuting to campus since her
freshman year, said she has proba-
bly "spent more money on gas,
tickets, and parking in the last three
years than what most people spend
on rent."
Both Abdrabboh and Manire park
in the Maynard Street parking
structure, and both agree that pay-
ing 90 cents an hour there really
adds up.
Next month, commuters and oth-
ers who park their cars in city-
owned lots and structures will face
an increase in prices.
Effective Oct. 1, hourly rates will
increase by a nickel from 90 to 95
cents, said General Manager Jim
Corbett, who works for Republic
Parking in Ann Arbor, the company
that handles the Maynard structure
along with nine others. Monthly
rent will also increase, from $100
to $105, Corbett said.
Despite the price increase, park-
ing is still in high demand. Abdrab-
boh said she's on the waitlist to
obtain a parking permit for the
Maynard structure. "One of my
friends has been on it for over a
year." Abdrabboh added.
Though commuting students find
issues like parking and waking up
early irritating, Manire has cited
"home-cooked meals and listening
to NPR" as definite plusses of liv-
ing at home. But he is still desper-
ate for off-campus housing.
"If anybody that reads this has
anything, call me!" he said, only
half joking.
JOHN PRATT/Daily
Two students lounge on the grass surrounding the State Street commuter parking
lot. Many students who commute from outside Ann Arbor cite cheaper rent and
cost of living as reasons for enduring extra travel time.
Regents to approve plans
for $220 million building
Rock-a-bye baby
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter
At it's September meeting tomorrow, the Universi-
ty's Board of Regents will be asked to approve the
schematic design and revised budget for a new $220
million Biomedical Science Research Building that is
to be one of the main buildings on the Medical School
campus.
The building's design will offer the most efficient way
to conduct research while allowing the University to
remain on the cutting edge of medical science, said
Gilbert Omenn, the University's executive vice president
for medical affairs. The 470,000-square-foot building was
designed by New York City-based Polshek Partnership
Architects.
"Interdisciplinary scientific programs rather than
traditional departments will be the basis for allocation
of space," Omenn said.
The building is not scheduled to open until 2005,
allowing the University time and flexibility in identify-
ing the areas of scientific research in which it wants to
focus, Omenn said. The areas of interest most likely to
be housed in the building are geriatrics and biogeron-
tol6gy, immunology, cardiovascular science, cellular
and molecular therapeutics, organogenesis and neuro-
science.
The Cancer and Geriatrics Center Building is
already laid out according to this theory, and Omenn
said it seems to be working well.
In addition to being organized according to research
interests, the building will also be other
"There will be the opportunity for faculty and stu-
dents to have the opportunity to interact," said Hank
Baier, associate vice president for facilities and opera-
tions.
There will be open spaces where colleagues can
bump into each other, offering the opportunity to talk
about similar research projects, which may not happen
in a traditionally-designed building, Baier said. The
building is designed to allow more light to enter, espe-
cially in office areas.
The intent is to make "people fell like they're in a
space where they can be comfortable and not feel iso-
lated," Baier said.
The building will allow maximum flexibility to
change as the fast-paced world of science changes,
Baier added.
One of the features of the building is an under-
ground auditorium, of which only the top will be visi-
ble from the street. The building is also expected to
house 240 laboratories and 1,000 people.
The building will span the northern half of the block
between Glen Avenue and Zina Pitcher Place, just
south of Ann Street.
It will serve as "a symbolic and physical link to the
central campus and especially the Life Sciences Insti-
tute-associated buildings," Omenn said.
The building will be an integral part of the Life Sci-
ences Initiative and the medical campus, Omenn said.
It will replace some of the oldest buildings on the
medical campus, including the Neuroscience Building,
which used to be the Food and Services Building and
was converted into a laboratory in 1969.
"It's going to be architecturally stunning building,"
Omenn said.
YENA RYU/Daily
Suzanne Perkins-Hart, a doctoral candidate in Education and pyschology, rocks her baby
in the Michigan Union last night.
FBI call for Arabic,
Farsi speakers gets
superb response
DEARBORN (AP) - An appeal
for Arabic speakers to assist in the
investigation of last week's terrorist
attacks was drawing a good
response, the FBI said yesterday.
"There's been just an outpouring
of people who want to help," said
Special Agent Dawn Clenney of the
FBI office in Detroit.
The FBI issued the nationwide
request via its Web site on Monday.
But it was repeated by U.S. Rep.
John Dingell (D-Mich.), whose dis-
trict includes one of the nation's
highest concentrations of Arab-
Americans.
The FBI also is seeking people flu-
ent in reading, writing, speaking and
listening to Farsi, which is spoken in
Iran and parts of Afghanistan, and in
Pashto, which is spoken in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Speakers would provide transla-
tion during interviews or would
read written materials. The FBI was
looking for people fluent in Arabic,
Farsi and Pashto because the inves-
tigation of last week's attacks was
focusing on the nations where those
languages are spoken.
The FBI employed so-called con-
tract linguists in Detroit and else-
where before the attacks in New
York and Washington. But the
bureau was receiving offers of
assistance from other Arab-Ameri-
cans in the Detroit area even before
its nationwide appeal went out
Monday, Clenney said.
Jordan native Luma Mufleh was
waiting to hear from the federal
government after applying online
for work as a linguist.
"It makes sense. It's what they
need," said Mufleh, 26, a free-lance
Web designer from Decatur, Ga.
"They need someone to understand
the language, understand the cul-
ture-that's where the gap is."
In the Detroit area, Bushra Iskan-
der of Warren was among those try-
ing to get through to the FBI tf
offer her services. The Detroit area
is home to an estimated 300,000
people of Arab descent.
"I think it would be really impor-
tant to all of us," she said. "I won't
give up hope."
Iskander, a middle school lan-
guage teacher in Southfield, is a
native of Iraq who has lived the past
23 years in the United States.
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today.
EVENTS
A Call For Peace; A
peaceful procession fea-
.ni.(nnf-m-'cnnl
p.m., University of Michi-
gan Museum of Art
Orientation and Inter-
view for volunteering at
the SOS Crisis Center:
er Defibrillator Patients;
Seminar featuring Samuel
Sears, associate profes-
sor in the department of
clinical and health psy-
SERVICES
Campus Information
Centers, 764-INFO,
info@umich.edu, or
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